The Ethnic Wave in Iranian Cinema: A Controlled and Cross-Border Pluralism

Eldad J. Pardo

The article studies the ethnic wave in Iranian cinema from the perspective of strategy and hegemony. Two phenomena are discussed: controlled ethnic pluralism and cross-border cinema. Three messages can be identified: a revolutionary Islamic message presents ethnic diversity as part of a just and culturally-rich revolutionary environment; a reformist/pluralistic message calls for democratization of the Islamic Republic by accentuating the suffering of ethnic groups, and individuals within them, due to religious, cultural and gender oppression; and an ethnic-separatist message - it is not explicit and mainly pertains to the Iranian-Kurdish cross-border cinema.
By treating ethnic cultures as part of the Iranian "whole," the Islamic Republic tries to buy peace at home and influence abroad. Some politically sensitive minority cultures - the Kurdish, the Afghan refugees and to a lesser extent the Turkish-Azeri - serve the center in Tehran as a springboard for influence across the border, through ethnic messages and technical cinematic assistance. Cinema reflects the existence of an ethnic challenge in Iran, but also the relative success of the center in containing minorities and recruiting their culture for its own needs.